Oil change indicator



Oct. 27, 1953 1. JONES OIL CHANGE INDICATOR Filed March 11, 1952 IN VENTOR Patented Oct. 27, 1953 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE on. CHANGE INDICATOR Lewis L. Jones, Purvls, Missl Application March 11, 1952 Serial No.275,95l)

1 Claim. (01. ne t-r14) Generally there is provided an attachment for a conventional speedometer and consists of a device which is essentially a bell-crank lever, the upper arm of which is bent downwardly and is of sufficient width so that indicia such as change of oil may be placed thereon. When the arm is in a downward position this indicia is displayed through an opening cut into the face plate of the speedometer. The lower end of the lever is adapted to be moved rearwardly in order to cause the downward movement of the upper arms by means of a series of ten pins spaced equidistantly upon the outer periphery of the conventional speedometer cylinder which indicates thousands of miles. Hence as each new thousand miles is recorded by the speedometer itself, one of the pins will engage the lower arm of the bell-crank lever to cause the upper arm to display itself through the window above referred to. This indicates to the operator of the vehicle that it is time to change the oil in the vehicle. When he has noticed this state of affairs and wishes to reset the mechanism, it is only necessary to press a button also provided as a part of the invention and the inner end of the button is equipped with an arm which is adapted to move the upper arm of the bell crank mechanism rearwardly. A weight is attached to the upper arm so that the device becomes an overcenter operating mechanism and will hence remain in either the indicating or not indicating position.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a device of the character set forth which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and yet effective and efficient in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel means for indicating the necessity for a change of oil in a vehicle, such means being automatic in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a device of the character set forth, novel means for resetting a mechanism as above described.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification taken in conjunction with the drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of an embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 2--2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 33 of Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is shown therein an automobile instrument panel II] in which is mounted a conventional speedometer ll equipped with a conventional face plate ['2 and a window I3 through which is displayed a plurality of cylinders M to Hi, inclusive, which represent, respectively, tenths of a mile, miles, tens of miles, hundreds of miles, thousands of miles and tens of thousands of miles.

The speedometer H is equipped with the conventional casing .20 into which extends the conventional cable housing 2| and other conventional mechanism generally indicated at 22 to operate the various conventional. indicators in the speedometer I I. It will be noted that the cylinder It indicates thousands of miles. Accordingly, as a part of the present invention, there is provided ten radially extending circumferentially spaced pins 23 which extend from the cylinder 18. A bracket 24 is affixed to the rear face of the plate l2 by a screw 25 or the like and has pivotally mounted adjacent its rearward edge, as indicated at 26, a bell crank lever 21 which is provided with a lower arm 28 which normally lies in the path of movement of the pins 123.

The bell crank lever 21 is also provided with an upper arm 29 whose upper end is turned downwardly and forwardly as indicated at 30 whereby the same will come into close proximity with a window 3| which forms a part of the present invention and must be cut into the conventional face plate I2. The portion 30 is of suflicient width to bear indicia 32 such as change oil and is preferably colored with some attractive color such as red or yellow so that it will catch the eye of the operator of the vehicle in which the device is installed. Extending centrally and rearwardly from the main portion of the upper arm 29 is a weight 33.

In operation, it will be apparent that normally the bell crank lever will assume the position shown in full lines, for example in Figure 2 of the drawing, but that when the speedometer acts to indicate an additional thousand miles the cylinder 18 will be rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 2 one-tenth of its circumference thus bringing one of the pins 23 into contact with the lower arm 28 of the bell crank lever 21 and thus causing the portion 30 to move downwardly into the dotted line position shown in Figure 2 thus bringing the indicia 32 into display through the window 3| thus indieating to the operator of the vehicle that it is time for him to change his oil. In order to reset the device, so that the indicia 32 is not visible through the window 3|, a lever 40 is provided which lever is hinged, as indicated at 4|, to a bracket 43 mounted upon the rear side of the instrument I0. The arm 40 extends downwardly to a point adjacent the forward side of the portion 30 and is provided with a forwardly extending shaft 44 which extends through an opening 45 provided in the panel l0 and which terminates in a button 46. It will thus be seen that inward pressure upon the button 46 will cause the lower end of the lever 40 to impinge against theportion 30 of the bell crank lever to thus move the same rearwardly to its full line position as viewed again in Figure 2. It will also be apparent that the weight 33 will cause the lever 21 to be an over center lever so that the lever will remain in either of the positions above described.

While but one form of the invention has been shown and described herein, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many minor modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is: I

A device of the character described comprising, in combination with a vehicle having an instrument panel and a conventional speedometer mounted therein, said speedometer including a casing, a face plate for said casing, a framearm, said lower arm being in the path of movement of said pins, said upper arm being movable into and out of registry with said window and having indicia thereon visible through said window when said arm is in registry therewith, a weight attached to said upper arm for holding said upper arm upon either side of the pivotal point of said lever, a reset lever pivoted to the rear of said panel and adapted to move said upper arm out of registry with said window, a shaft affixed to said reset lever and extending through said panel, and a button affixed to the free end- .of said shaft.

LEWIS L; JONES.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES? PATENTS Number Name Date 7 I 1,891,335 Reisinge'r pee. 30, 1932 2,130,613 Cole'e' Sept. 20, 1938 2,253,827 Viriton Aug. 26, 1941 2,601,838 Boats July 1, I952 

